A serpent empire for 5e? An alternate look at World War One? A band of dog and cat miniatures for 5e? On the Open Gaming Network, thanks to the Open Gaming Store, I’m reviewing several RPG Kickstarters running in November with each one worth backing.
- The Ssethregoran Empire 5th Edition by Paradigm Concepts, Inc.
- Never Going Home: World War Occult Role Playing by Wet Ink Games
- Canitaurs & Felitaurs: Miniatures and Cards Set for DnD 5E by Punga miniatures
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The Ssethregoran Empire 5th Edition by Paradigm Concepts, Inc.
Ends on Fri, November 16 2018 9:08 AM EST.
“The Ssethregoran Empire is not just a monster book, but a monstrous empire, detailing the reptilian nation of the serpent-men.
Paradigm Concepts Publishing proudly presents the next tome in our Arcanis 5th Edition line: The Ssethregoran Empire. Not just a monster book, but a monstrous empire for your 5E game. Whether you play in another published setting, a homebrew or in Arcanis: The World of the Shattered Empires, you’ll find this book to be an indispensable resource.
Back The Ssethregoran Empire today and spice up your campaign by adding a new dimension to these scaled villains. Everyone should have an ancient empire of serpent men in their campaign. Shouldn’t you?
The Ssethregoran Empire isn’t just a collection of monsters as there’s a full society explored within these pages, from their culture and religious views, to their history which stretches back over 7,000 years.
This second volume in the Codex Geographica series focuses on the reptilian empire of Ssethregore, ruled by a race of serpent-men, it is an ancient nation filled with other sentient reptilian species, like the ss’ressen, lizard men of different egg clutches bred for specific tasks, the massive iguadons, aquatic pliesauran, winged rhamphorikes, the vermin-like kobolds, and more!
Each of these monstrous races also includes player character options, new spells, feats, and subclasses. For those playing the Black Talon ss’ressen, an entire chapter is devoted to the Pariah Egg-Clutches, with an in-depth look at their culture, history, religions, and more.
The Pariah Egg Clutches: A Player’s Guide
This softcover book compiles the information on the Black Talon, Ghost Scale, and Ashen Hide ss’ressen, along with all the pertinent rules and character options. This book is perfect to give to players of these egg clutches so they don’t mess up your copy of the Ssethregoran Empire.
Reminder: The information in this books is in the main Ssethregoran Empire book.
The initial funding for the book allows us to produce a soft-back book of 160 pages or so. We hope to make this book bigger and lavishly illustrated with your help. Our ultimate goal is to turn this book into a hardback and 224 to 256 pages in length. There is lots of additional material that can be added to the book to make this a truly spectacular book.
Speaking of spectacular, should we unlock the hardcover upgrade, it will unlock the Limited Edition version for purchase, as well. The Limited Edition will be printed to order and have a green-scaled textured cover with the symbol of the Ssethregoran Empire emblazoned upon it.
After the book is fully realized, the Stretch Goals will turn to a series of adventures (legal for both the Living Arcanis 5E and Legends of Arcanis organized play campaigns) that will plunge your Heroes into a desperate battle deep within the Ssethregoran Empire and finally confront the deadly Varn.
For the organized play campaign, we can offer these three new special characters. To play one of these races, you must own the cert that allows you to do so. More details upcoming in the Updates.
Yissera
Bioengineered by the ssanu to infiltrate the human nations of the Known Lands, the yissera are indistinguishable from humans until they reach the age of fifty or so. At that time, they begin to show signs of their ssethric heritage, eventually suffering from mutations, from exhibiting scaly skin to truly horrific ones. Many yissera, like thise special character, are fitted with biotech. These yissera have a small venom sac and retractable fangs in their mouths, allowing them to spit their venom a small distance.
Shell-Backs
These sentient amphibians resemble anthropomorphized turtles and may be one of the oldest races upon Arcanis. Sadly, these creatures’ culture, religion, history, and even their name, has been obliterated, purposefully destroyed by the frog-like hylis, whom they warred with for centuries. The hylis allied themselves with the Serpent Empire in exchange for their aid in defeating their ancient foes. Yet, victory and subjugation was not enough. The hylis annihilated the shell-backs’ cities, along with any written material immortalizing their history, culture, and philosophy. They rounded up and executed their scholars, priests, and loremasters to deprive their hated foes even the comfort of who they were. Temples and idols were burned so that knowledge of the shell-back’s deity is unknown. Even their species’ name was erased, and the creatures were forced to use the derogatory name given to them by their oppressors – shell-backs.
Dark Crest Ss’ressen
Condemned to complete eradication by the naga when they refused to turn away from the ssethric deities and venerate the Varn gods, the Dark Crest ss’ressen were long thought to be an extinct egg-clutch, but the ssanu bioengineered them too well. Bred as infiltrators and assassins to counter a rival ssanu pit’s Black Talon, the Dark Crest are able to use their matte black scales to lose themselves in shadows. Ironically, it was the Black Talons that were ordered to destroy the Dark Crests, but they also refused, creating a blood debt that remains to this day. Due to their purpose of penetrating rebellious ss’ressen egg clutches or the stronghold of their masters’ enemies, the Dark Crests were created without the gland that instills frenzy in other ss’ressen, making them unmatched in infiltrating other clutches.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
This crowdfunding campaign develops a setting book that details the Ssethregoran Empire of reptilian monsters, NPCs, and characters for Dungeons & Dragons 5e. It can be used in Paradigm Concepts’ Arcanis setting or as a drag-and-drop setting that adds dimension to your game. The concept offers excellent utility within 5e. Imagine a fully realized land of monsters that has a wider variety of lizardfolk types as well as more of how their world would be developed added to your gaming table. The 5e SRD allows you to add this land into your game and seamlessly blend the mechanics. At your table, Ssethregoran could be dragon worshippers, or dinosaur-centric, appearing as dark, or light, as you need the world to be, a cold-blooded power within your campaign. It looks like an exceptional product with excellent art. Should you back it? It depends on what your table needs in terms of enemies or allies.
Questions about the system? Check out D&D 5e’s System Reference Documents (SRDs) at: http://www.5esrd.com/
This crowdfunding campaign ends on Friday, November 16 2018 9:08 AM EST. You can support this Kickstarter campaign here.
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Never Going Home: World War Occult Role Playing by Wet Ink Games
Ends on Mon, December 3 2018 8:00 PM EST.
“Eldritch Horror Role Playing in the Trenches of World War One
On the first day of fighting at the Somme, something happened which thinned the veil between this world and the world of the Others. Soon after came the Whispers. From just behind a soldier’s ear voices told them how they could win. Some resisted, and the Others drove them mad. Some accepted their instructions and sold their humanity for arcane powers. Strange enemies now stalk the battlefield and many soldiers have become twisted parodies of their past selves.
Inspired by the World War Occult art of Charles Ferguson-Avery, Wet Ink Games is ready to bring you into the horror-haunted trenches and march you through the terror-torn battlefields of the First World War. Create a soldier, choose your Whispers, join your fellow survivors, fight for your lives, and protect your humanity as long as you can. You are never going home…
August 2nd, 1916
We’ve made it back to the trenches, but we still have a long way to march before we’re at the front again. It’s worse this time, going back. We don’t know what we’re headed for. I’d almost be thankful if I was gunned down by the German machine gunners. The officers have started to come in the night, choosing one or two men from the dugouts. We don’t know what happens—none of us has the courage to follow—but we hear the chanting, and we hear the screams. the men come back to us, but they aren’t the same afterward. They are hollow- like Bailey. I can’t help but think of the tower of bones I saw on the way here. How many others might now be set around us as we hide from our own commanders in these holes?
Never Going Home: World War Occult Role Playing is powered by a simple and easy to learn rules set, loosely based on the Compass System used in Wet Ink Games’ previous game. Players roll D6 equal to skill proficiency and may manipulate die results in a number of different ways based on attributes in an effort to meet or exceed the difficulty (a number of successes required) per check. A success is considered a 5 or 6 on the die, but each roll can be manipulated a number of times equal to the associated attribute to raise or reroll a die, but also to add dice to a roll, or even to roll a skill you may not have. The higher an attribute is, the more a character can manipulate the roll, but considering each attribute is a marker of your health and can be reduced means options and proficiency are also reduced as a character is damaged.
Magic actions known as whispers or more complex rituals offer players powerful options, but carry large risks. Players are able to add a number of abilities to the whisper each time it is used, but each addition raises the difficulty. Massively powerful abilities can annihilate adversaries and rend armor in half, but if a whisper is too powerful and fails, the mystical forces might be too much for a character to handle. Balancing the risk of corruption versus the reward of magical power can often be too much for the common soldier.
Players also hold their memories of humanity in the form of playing cards. These cards must be sacrificed in order to get the group through missions and may be sacrificed to power rituals or avoid injury. These cards also serve as the experience system of the game, being traded to new skills, additional dice, and dark powers from the realm of the Others. Players must balance the goal of personal survival with the goal of group success.”
(Design not final)
Egg’s Thoughts:
One hundred years ago on 11/11/1918 at 11:11AM, the First World War drew to a close. I will not attempt to summarize that period of history, or draw a deeper conclusion than this, the insanity of the Great War’s industrialized warfare left a horrifying impression on the world. The scale of the destruction is so massive that it lacks reference, it seems almost mystical. From that realm came Charles Ferguson-Avery’s art book, World War Occult – An Artbook, a “horrid, fantasy world war, where an eldritch hell literally spills out across the battlefield.” The art looks like the muted hellscapes and victim-soldiers of World War One as seen through the filter of Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards. Its contrast of stylized, cartoony artwork against one of the darkest periods of European history gone darker through the addition of eldritch hell makes for engaging work. Charles’ art inspired Brandon K. Aten of Wet Ink Games to license the work and offer it as an RPG. While there was a Wizards RPG from Whit Publications in 1992, and World War Occult is not the same world as Wizards, instead this project offers an interesting union of that style and catastrophe, and given the peace’s anniversary, this game mixes several touchstones with its own flavor producing a game that’s worth backing.
This crowdfunding campaign ends on Monday, December 3 2018 8:00 PM EST. You can support this Kickstarter campaign here.
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Canitaurs & Felitaurs: Miniatures and Cards Set for DnD 5E by Punga miniatures
Ends on Thu, December 6 2018 3:04 PM EST.
“Set of Battledoge miniatures by Punga going with special card deck by The Deck of Many.
Meet the Canitaurs — new unique race of dog centaurs in the most popular roleplay game. This project made by Punga Miniatures and The Deck of Many based on original arts by Nikita Orlov.
Here you will find more than 20 high-quality resin miniatures going with the set of special character cards and a booklet with all the setting information that you need to start playing. Part of the figures was able to order since spring 2018 and many of our customers highly rated the quality and sculpt level of miniatures.
In this project, we have done a lot of work and made more than 20 great miniatures of Canitaurs, so that each player can choose a character for himself.
Each Canitaur has its own pre-generated class, cards with parameters, special skills, and a short background.
You can choose Corgi, a brave and honest guard, or Pitbull, a brutal and strong warrior, a Greyhound, nimble and fast ranger or Chihuahua, an intelligent and little merchant. Choose your heroes!
Our miniatures are cast by hand using silicone molds and pressure chambers. The material of the miniatures is the high-quality resin. Manual work and expensive materials allow us to make miniatures more detailed and qualitative in comparison with usual miniatures from PVC.
Miniatures are divided on average into 3 parts, all miniatures are sent not assembled, you need to use glue for assembly (except the painted models). But we use to convenience connections, so miniatures are easy to assemble.
Canitaurs like different breeds of dogs have different sizes, from 28 mm to 58 mm. Exact dimensions can be found in the FAQ.
The Deck of Many: Canitaurs has everything you need to start playing DnD in the world of the Canitaurs, whether you want to explore their world or introduce them into yours! A booklet contains all the setting information and mechanics you need to create Canitaur player characters! It also contains a set of reference cards that include many new Canitaur and Felitaur NPCs and Monsters, including full stat blocks and beautiful illustrations.
Here’s what you can expect from one of our cards:
- Tarot Card Sized (70mm x 120mm)
- 330 GSM
- White Core Linen Stock Paper
- UV Coated
- Water Resistant
Deck includes:
- Booklet with setting information and mechanics
- 25+ Reference cards
All sorts of adventures might await you when you travel amongst the Canitaurs – will you go on a high seas adventure? Hunt in the woods with the greyhound rangers? The Deck of Many: Canitaurs has all these options – and more!
Snowy
During the pre-sale of Canitaurs we received mail with a very sentimental story:
This story touched our hearts so hard so we decided to create another Canitaur for Snowy. Now Snowy is passed away. Many of us have lost our little friends, so her miniature will help to memorialize it. Sculpting of Snowy is now in progress and miniature soon will be shown.
Somewhere in the great multiverse, you may find a world, quite different from our own. This is a world where animals have become sentient and established great civilizations and amazing cultures. There is a place for religion, economy, art, politics and even war. In this world, we find the Kingdom of Hundalia.
Hundalia is unlike any place you have ever seen. At first, you might notice the cozy small villages, the lush forests or the wide-spread farmlands. Some aspects of this kingdom may seem familiar at first, however, you won’t find many humans amongst the Hunds.
As you traverse the more populated areas, you will meet many canine-like creatures walking upright amongst the streets and fields. These are the Canitaur. Canitaurs are friendly, hard-working and down-to-earth folk. They enjoy little more than spending time with friends and family and meeting new people. If you are friendly and trustworthy to them, you could easily make a friend for life.
Hundalians are a proud people. They value loyalty and honesty very highly and this translates to their normal lives as well. A Canitaur would not lie (unless in a life-threatening situation) and takes it as a given that others would not lie to them. Because of this, trust is high amongst the Canitaur and people speak openly and know what to expect from each other.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
When the 5e Open Gaming License was issued, did Wizards of the Coast envision Eddy Webb’s Pugmire and Monarchies of Moa, or Russ Charles’ Animal Adventures: Tales of Dungeons and Doggies, or Punga miniatures’ Canitaurs & Felitaurs: Miniatures and Cards Set for DnD 5E? This subgenre of Dungeons & Pets has proven incredibly popular with large Kickstarter sums and notable fan bases.
Canitaurs & Felitaurs adds to that by offering centaur-esque anthropomorphic dogs and cats as miniatures with cards sporting their D&D 5e stats. What I love about this is that they’re centaur-like pets with four legs and two arms delivered with stats for a 5e game, so they’re useful if you’ve planned characters or just looking for unique NPCs or just feel these are amazing looking miniatures. Much like the setting for The Ssethregoran Empire 5th Edition by Paradigm Concepts, Inc above, this items is versatile within your game. Are you playing anthropomorphic pets? Want to encounter some NPCs? Maybe you go against expectations and set the enemy as a pack of dogs. Because of the cards that come with this, these miniatures have more dimension than other miniature options, and they’re worth backing.
Questions about the system? Check out D&D 5e’s System Reference Documents (SRDs) at: http://www.5esrd.com/
This crowdfunding campaign ends on Thursday, December 6 2018 3:04 PM EST.. You can support this Kickstarter campaign here.